Cribbing



March 3, 1931. MILLER 1,794,704

I CRIBBING Filed July 26, 1929 s Sheets-Sheeii 1 RNVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 3, 1931 RUDOLPH MILLER, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CBIBBING Application filed ul 26,

This invention relates't'ocribbing adapted Y to be used to brace. the sidewalls or" excavations and has fora'n object the provision of cribbing or framework of this character which can be readily placed and removed,'l"'

which is composed oi sectionalmembers of convenient design for employment in excavations of various areas and depths; and which is inexpensive, durable and rigid. The present common method ofbracing the sidewalls of earthen excavations is to drive fiat timber piling down the side walls be- .hind longitudinal beams or timbers braced against the opposite sidewall eihth-e excavzu tion. 'lhe'nature oi theinteriorbracing for this framework is'such that the working" space within the excavation is unduly limited. 7 The placing. of the framework is a laborious task. The timber piling framework is not well suited for deep excavations with relatively weak sidewalls where the framework must follow the excavation downward, this necessitating long piling with high platforms for the workmen to stand on in starting and not readily permitting bracing of an excavation deeper than a single length of piling.

Various fabricated cribbings have been proposed for this purpose but sofar as known they have not proven entirely satisfactory. At all events theyhave not attained wide use and wooden cribbing continues to be used almost eXclu'siiely.

. The present invention aims to avoid all of these difficulties and'obj ectionable features and the manner of accompiishingthese desirable results will be obvious to those skilled .in the art from a consideration of the follow- -ing description and illustration of an eX- emplary embodiment of the invention the 40 embodiment shown being" particularly adapt edfor long narrow excavations such as trenches or ditches, this being the type of excavation most frequentlyrequiring cribbing. p V

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus applied to'two sides of an excavation, the other two sides being omitted since they are identical; V

1929. Serial No. 331,127.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the sectional members laterally separated from each other;.

Figure 3 is an elevational view showing an assembly of five side members instead of 'tl'ireeas in Figures 1 and 2;

' Figure lis a vertical section of a corner member, the section being taken on the line into a rigid box-like structure bylatches 12 and keepers 14. The latch andkeeper construction' in. this particular embodiment varies somewhat among the several plates but its essential functionthat of providing quickassembly and dismantling and rigidity of the assemblyremainsthe same whatever ticular embodiment, the latch members are shownto be permanently-attached to the plates but this is not indispensable. The latches may be separateu'nits cooperating 1 with the keepers toconnect all of the plates together. g

To proceedwith the description of the particular embodiment selected, and still referring to Figure 1, the assembly, besides being made up of sectional pieces or plates forming a single length'or tier oiframing ornnitof casing length, also mayv comprise a plurality of tiers or un ts of'casmg length. Thesetiers in turn are connected together in such a mans the embodiment may be. Further, in this par ner as to be quickly assembled and disniantled. Bottom hook flanges 16 on uppertier plates and top hook flanges 18 on lower tier plates have been found convenient and adequate. If the outside size of the excavation is to be preserved one'of the matingplates may be provided with an oil-set 18a to keep the plates-in alignment. I p I If thenature of the material composing the plates are large and heavy, they may be pro vided with holes 26 to receive lifting hooks.

To brace the structure across its width the plates may at intervals along the side be pro vided with keepers or straps 28 to receive the bent ends ot U-shaped struts 32. In Figure 1 only one end of the strut is shown so engaged, the near side wall having been omitted for illustrative convenience.

Often a platform or landing is desirable, either for workmen to stand on or for supporting excavated material, tools, structural parts and the like. A simple and easily installed platform element is indicated at 34:.

It is lJ-shaped and the bent ends 36 are adapted either to fit within the bottom hooks 16 of the plates where these hooks are not occupied by a lower plate, or to rest upon the shoulder formed by the inverted hooks 18, in the latter case the cross bracing preventing slippage. Only one platform element 3 is shown but obviously any number may be employed.

. Referring to Figures 2 to 7, certain specialized shapes are illustrated. In Figure 2 the end plates-10a are shown to be provided with slots 14a serving as keepers for latches or hooks 12a formed on the corner plates 10?), which in this case are reverse hand duplicates. The end plates are made ust of a width to fit thewidth of the particular excavation but in view of the structural showing of latches and hooks for the side plates given herein, one

skilled in the art could readily adapt the end plates to sectional construction for wider encavations.

The corner plates have keepers 14?) adapted to receive the protruding latch ends 126 of bars 28a riveted to 'a. center side wall plate 100. out to form the loop 28 for the end of the cross strut 32. If desired, the latches 12?; may be provided with hooks 18 to prevent the casing unit spreading outward-after assembly.

The plates of the lower tier shown in Figure 2 are in all respects like those of the upper tier except that they have hooks at both ends instead of a lateral flange and hook and that they are provided below the top hook 18 with the offset 18a.

The construction shown in Figure 3 is the same as that in Figure 2 except that five side plat-es instead of three are employed, the structural variations in hooks and keepers being obvious. Only one plate of dillerent construction is requiredthe center one,10d

and this has keepers 14:72 on both vertical edges. It more plates are required the use or" appropriate ones of those already described will take care of any length of excavation.

Figures 4 to '2 show sections which assist in an understanding of the construction heretofore described. It is believed that no description either of these figures or of the procedure of assembling and dismantling the apparatus is required in view of what has already been said:

It is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing front the spirit of the invention as set forth in the subj oined claims.

lVhat I claim is:

1. Cribbing for excavations, comprising sectional mating members including an end member having slots therein, a side member mating therewith having hooks insertable through said slots said s1de member having keeper brackets thereon, and a second side inemoer mating with the first side member provided with latches engaging said keepers.

2. Apparatus set forth in claim 1 which further includes a third side plate provided with kee )ers on both edges cooperating with the latches of adjacent plates.

.3. Cribbing for excavations, comprising in combination, spaced retaining plates provided with upturned hooks thereon and a shelf of lJ-shape insertable in the hooks of said plates.

In testimony whereof, l have signed my name to this specification this 19th day of July, 1929.

RUDOLPH W. h lILLE lt.

The central part of the bar 28a is bent 

